S.D. Not on Amazon's List of 20 HQ2 Finalists

San Diego and Chula Vista did not make the cut for Amazon’s second headquarters campus.

The tech and e-commerce giant announced 20 finalist cities for what it calls HQ2. Los Angeles is the only California city on the list, released Jan. 18.

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) thanked all 238 communities that submitted proposals. The company solicited proposals for the campus, which would have up to 50,000 employees and be an equal to its Seattle headquarters, in September.

“While disappointed San Diego/Chula Vista did not advance, we are not at all surprised,” Mark Cafferty, CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., said in a statement. The organization led the San Diego County bid for the headquarters.

“We knew that this would be a longshot based on geography and incentive options, but we also know that as a region, San Diego can most definitely compete with others in terms of talent, entrepreneurship, innovation and quality of life.

“We are proud of the fact that Amazon is already expanding in San Diego and will employ up to 500 developers and engineers in its UTC office. And we are proud of the partnership and collaborative spirit of the more than 20 organizations and municipalities that contributed to our regional proposal. We know that other positive things will come from this process and we continue to view 2018 with great excitement, optimism and focus.”

Amazon’s second campus is expected to have billions of dollars of economic impact to the city Amazon ultimately chooses.

Separately, Apple Inc. announced Jan. 17 that it is planning a second U.S. campus as it brings its cash back onshore. Apple said it would announce the location later this year. Initially, Apple said, the campus will house technical support for customers.